Heir to the Kingdom of 1.4 billion people

Chapter 169 An Elegant Gift, Haguk's Love

Spark Hall.

Beneath the towering crystal dome, the torch burns eternally.

"You all have to step over my corpse twelve times first!"

Hearing Hagers's powerful voice from his left, Xia Mingyu was deeply moved, but his lips twitched slightly.

Let alone twelve times, when you were resurrected for the first time, I was probably already drained of magic and turned into a dried-up corpse!

“Your Highness, I am sorry that I was unable to change my clothes in time when you summoned me, and could only appear in my pajamas. Please punish me for my improper manners.”

At this moment, Tamerlan, to his right, sincerely apologized. His handsome face, which could easily charm countless young girls, was now full of self-reproach, as if he really hoped that his lord would punish him severely for this small mistake.

"It was I who suddenly summoned you in the dead of night, and you immediately responded to my call and slew the enemy for me. You have perfectly fulfilled your duty as a comrade-in-arms, so how can you say you have committed a crime?"

Xia Mingyu raised his right hand and patted Tamerlan's shoulder, who looked uneasy on the bronze pedestal, to comfort him.

Besides, if it weren't for you, I would have already gone to the underworld to see Leo by now. He silently added to himself.

Having stayed in this world for a long time, he also began to accept some of its culture. For example, in the minds of the world, apart from a very few particularly devout believers or saints who can be granted the grace to ascend to the seven gods' realm, the souls of the rest of the people will enter a world of the dead called the underworld.

"call."

Upon hearing this, Tamerlan let out a long sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted. His gaze towards Xia Mingyu held not only admiration but also a hint of gratitude. He slowly spoke:
"My lord, rest assured, after this incident I have received another blessing: elegance. If I wish, I can maintain an elegant demeanor, which includes changing my clothing. I will never again lose my composure when you need my services!"

What is this "graceful gift"? Does such an insignificant gift really exist in this world?
Upon hearing Xia Mingyu's words, the expressions of Haggex, Dorothy, and the other two all stiffened.

"Tamerlan, thank you for the spellbook. I never imagined that it was the signature spell of the world's first great mage, Byas."

Xia Mingyu rubbed his throbbing temples, feeling it was necessary to change the subject, so he thanked him.

"You must have gone to great lengths to get such a valuable item, right?"

"You misunderstand, Your Highness. All I have to do is find the most suitable magic book for you from the mountain of magic books. It's not a difficult task."

“If you need any more spellbooks, I can get you a few more,” Tamerlan said frankly.

Although His Highness has forgiven him, he feels it is still necessary to offer His Highness some gifts to express his apology.

After all, although His Highness had promised Hagx that he would summon him a second time, Tamerlan hoped that His Highness would summon him a third time to slay the enemy.

He desperately wants to serve His Highness!

Xia Mingyu fell silent, feeling that he was a truly incompetent ruler. Not only did he fail to reward his subjects, but he also continued to accept gifts from Tamerlan.

"No need, that magic book is enough for me to cultivate for a long time." After coming back to his senses, Xia Mingyu shook his head and said.

"Dorothy, how are things going on your end?" he asked softly.

These past few days he's been busy cultivating the Extreme Cold Purgatory magic. Although he's still putting food into the connecting space, he hasn't really been paying attention to the girl's situation.

“Your Highness, I have been practicing the sword skills that Lord Tamerlan gave me these past few days, and tomorrow I will set off to travel throughout the Northern Territory to deliver food to all the villages suffering from famine.”

Dorothy stood up straight from her bronze pedestal and spoke in a clear voice.

"By the way, if any lord passing through the territory is as greedy as Lucas, my Lionheart Sword will be stained with even more blood."

The blue-haired girl's eyes turned cold, her originally clear emerald eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of frost, and her tone was full of murderous intent.

Seeing her murderous aura, Xia Mingyu couldn't help but want to say to those anthropomorphic lords in the Northern Border, "Die!"

"Have a safe journey. If I have time, I'll occasionally travel with you through the Starfire Link."

Xia Mingyu thought for a moment and then said.

After reading for a long time, I need to go out for some fresh air. But it's too dangerous for me to go out in my real body now. It would be much safer to go to the Northern Territory as a fairy.

"Yes, Your Highness." Thinking of the adorable appearance of His Highness after transforming into a fairy, Dorothy's lips curled up slightly, and a smile appeared on her exquisitely sculpted face.

Tamerlan and Haggex on either side looked at her with envy.

Traveling with His Highness was an unimaginable happiness and honor for the two of them!

"Hagerks, what about you? Has anything happened to you lately?" Xia Mingyu asked with concern.

“While I was fighting, a girl jumped off the high wall from the audience, ran to my side, hugged me, and said she loved me.”

After a moment's thought, Haggicks replied.

To boldly declare one's love for a slave in front of a huge crowd?!

The three looked at each other in surprise, and when they came to their senses, their faces were filled with intense curiosity.

"And then, did you accept her proposal?" Xia Mingyu asked, his eyes fixed on Haggex, as did Tamerlan and Dorothy.

After all, gossiping is human nature, and everyone from royalty to shoemakers and vendors enjoys it.

“I kicked her away,” Haggiks told the truth.

Everyone: "???"

"Why? Is it because her appearance doesn't suit your taste?" Xia Mingyu asked, startled.

"No, she is very beautiful, but she is the adopted daughter of Simon Clay, the master of the slave capital. I think this may be a trick he devised to subdue me."

Haggex recalled Radith's beautiful face and said calmly.

He would never abandon his ideals and loyalty to His Highness for the sake of a mere woman.

"What if she truly likes you?" Xia Mingyu asked.

After all, it would be too presumptuous to assume that a beautiful young woman of noble birth openly and boldly professed her love to a slave in front of countless people.

Ultimately, it's the piercing expert who loses face.

Upon hearing this, Hagoreks's previously expressionless face stiffened noticeably.

“She’s the daughter of the biggest slave owner in Sosia, how could she possibly fall in love with a slave?” Haggex stammered.

"Haggex, do you remember our first meeting?" Xia Mingyu asked suddenly after a moment of silence.

"Of course." Hagoromo nodded emphatically, so much so that the surrounding air rippled slightly. His encounter with His Highness was an unforgettable event in his life; he remembered every single detail of that time clearly.

"Do you remember what I said back then?" Xia Mingyu continued before Hagoreks could answer:

"People cannot resist the environment in which they are born. Just like if a family has an alcoholic and irritable father, the children will also become irritable and cowardly."

"Of course, I'm not trying to defend the girl who confessed her love to you, but I hope that before judging the sincerity of someone's feelings, you won't simply draw conclusions based on her identity. Instead, listen to her words, observe her behavior, and what kind of morality you perceive in her."

"After all, if it's so easy to draw conclusions about someone, should I have listened to Tamerlan's advice and stayed away from you that day?" Xia Mingyu said calmly.

Tick.

Haggex's pupils suddenly contracted. This giant, who appeared to outsiders as having an indomitable will, was now flustered. His well-defined chest heaved violently, and a fine layer of cold sweat seeped from his forehead, with large beads of sweat dripping onto the armrest with a crisp sound.

boom!
He suddenly stood up from his seat, then knelt down on one knee in front of Xia Mingyu. The moment his knee touched the bronze ground, the heavy impact even made the entire hall floor tremble slightly.

“Your Highness, I have failed to remember your teachings and have not treated everyone equally based on their character, as you have done. Please punish me.”

Haggex bowed his head deeply, almost touching the ground.

"You've misunderstood. I don't mean to punish you, and you haven't done anything wrong. I just want to tell you..."

Xia Mingyu walked over and gently placed his palm on the giant's hair, which was as hard as steel needles.

"Love can be rejected, can be ignored, but it should never be trampled on," Xia Mingyu said softly.

"That girl could ignore your slave status and offer you her roses in front of everyone. If it was just a trick by the piercing man, then so be it. But what if you find out that she truly loves you?" The black-haired youth paused.

"Go apologize to her, after all, you trampled on her roses," Xia Mingyu said calmly.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Hagoromo nodded heavily again.

The slave capital, early morning.

Beneath the Bloodfang Arena, in a newly expanded, sprawling dungeon, hundreds of slaves lived without feeling crowded.

The first rays of dawn had just seeped through the cracks in the stone wall, illuminating Hagk's face as he lay fast asleep on the ground, causing his thick, hard eyebrows to twitch slightly.

Wow!
Recalling his memories of the Hall of Starfire, the giant, who was over two meters tall, suddenly opened his eyes and straightened up from the ground, still in shock.

"What's wrong, Hagoromo? Did you have a nightmare?"

Hall, a slave who was also a gladiator, came over carrying food brought by the jailers and asked with concern.

Since Haggax asked the Impaler to improve the living conditions of the gladiator slaves, the relationship between the two has progressed well, and they can now be considered friends.

The other slaves were mostly grateful to Haggix, and many even regarded him as a living saint because of his past behavior of silently enduring the gladiators' beatings without fighting back, and regarded all his words as truth.

"Huff, huff." Hagoromo was panting heavily, but he just shook his head and said nothing when Hall asked him.

He could not possibly disclose information involving His Highness to anyone.

"Have something to eat. Today's food is incredibly lavish." Hall shrugged and placed the food he was carrying on the ground.

Haggex blankly picked up the bread from the ground and stuffed it into his mouth. Only when he felt the softness in his teeth did he realize that what he was holding was a piece of white bread that was extremely rare for slaves!
Even the wooden bowl on the ground no longer contained the meager wild vegetable soup with only a few leaves, but instead a thick oat porridge.

But what's most surprising is that this wasn't food specially provided for him alone, but rather food offered to all the slaves.

A faint aroma of wheat wafted throughout the entire vast dungeon, and even in the adjacent dungeon.

The hundreds of slaves in the dungeon were now carefully licking the oat porridge from their bowls as if on a pilgrimage, eating their white bread in tiny bites, and their rough, wounded faces showed expressions of immense happiness.

"What the hell is going on?"

Even the usually calm Hagoromo looked completely bewildered as he held the wooden bowl in his hand.

Providing so many slaves with white bread and oatmeal porridge is a considerable expense.

Although it was just a drop in the ocean of daily profits for the Impaler, who owned the entire slave capital, Haggex was still certain that this was definitely not the style of that Clay merchant!
He would rather spend all his money building his Starry Manor than provide white bread to his slaves.

So, who exactly did this?

Haggex frowned deeply. He even suspected that the food had been poisoned, but Simon would never poison such an expensive slave as himself!

"I heard that our arena has a new manager, and that manager provided us with these delicacies."

Hall explained, a faint hint of gratitude appearing on his otherwise somewhat fierce face.

In private, these slaves would refer to the gladiator's managers as "bastards" or "bastards" in a derogatory way.

But today, considering that the other party provided them with white bread and porridge—foods that ordinary people outside couldn't afford—Hall reluctantly addressed the other party as "sir."

Tapping.

Just then, the jailers came over and used a key to open the dungeon door.

"The administrator has ordered that your time for sunbathing outside will be changed from one hour every five days to one hour per day. Slaves from different cells will need to take turns going out."

"Slaves of Dungeon Thirteen, it's time for you to sunbathe," the jailer said.

The next moment, the slaves filed out in a single file, carrying wooden bowls filled with oat porridge and white bread, as if celebrating a festival.

Haggex also walked out of the cell with the crowd.

The bright morning light poured down like gold onto the rough sand of the arena, making the sand slightly warm. Lying on it felt as comfortable as soaking in a hot spring, which dispelled the chill in the dungeon.

The slaves sipped their oatmeal porridge from wooden bowls while chatting in small groups on the warm sand, basking in the sunlight.

At that moment, they even thought they had gained the freedom they had always dreamed of.

Haggex was the same, except he had a bigger appetite and finished his food in just a few bites.

Tapping.

Just as he sat on the sand, rubbing his still empty stomach and sighing, a series of light footsteps drew closer.

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a purple-haired girl in a white dress carrying a wicker lunchbox, walking over timidly.

"Haggox, I'm the new manager. Would you like some of my cooking?"

(End of this chapter)